Tegernsee, Germany

First, our thoughts and prayers are with families in the Carolinas who suffered -- and continue to suffer -- from the tragic deaths and the ravages and lingering effects of the unrelenting rain that pounded the area, especially in South Carolina. It seemed like there was no end to the rain. What a nightmare for so many.

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Late August we returned from our summer vacation. After living inside one gorgeous European postcard after another for two months, though, we were ready to sleep in our own bed (ahhhh!), exactly how we felt after gorgeous postcard trips in our own country: Arcadia National Park, Yosemite National Park, the Dakota Badlands, the Grand Canyon, Vermont's Green Mountains and small towns, Louisiana's bayous and marshes, sections of Mississippi's Natchez Trace and Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, and the magnificent drive from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to the Mississippi River Bridge at Memphis, come to mind this groggy morning. (Hmm, can't leave out Georgia's tiny, northwestern "hook" . . . oh, so much out there!)

As such, planes, boats, trains, metros/buses and Mr. H's driving (1,200 miles) covered a lot of territory this summer and without incident, thankfully.

When not in transit from A to B, we walked a lot, easily averaging seven miles a day. Those miles added up, creating a problem with one shoe. So, we drove to Tegernsee, Germany, across the border from our hamlet in Austria, in search of a new pair of serious walking shoes.

Some highlights:

Thanks to Wikipedia, an aerial photo of Tegernsee. The town's about 30 miles north of Munich, the capital of the German state of Baveria, and about 20 miles from the Austrian state of Tyrol (Tirol).
Today, Tegernsee's primarily a spa center and tourist destination popular with Germans, Austrians, and the Dutch. Because of the many wars in Europe, history buffs know there is much to explore in the wider area. However, a footnote caught my eye: On May 3, 1945, a wounded German officer, Major Hannibal von Luttichau, first persuaded the German SS to vacate their entrenchments and then persuaded approaching American soldiers not to attach Tegernsee. Thus, the old town remains much as it was deeper in history.

A Benedictine abbey built in 746 hugs the lake. (Wikipedia)

Taken from the car -- the sign welcomes visitors to a very small town en route to Tegernsee. Gruss Gott -- Greetings to God -- is a centuries-old greeting commonly heard in Bavaria and Tyrol (Tirol). Predominately Lutheran or Catholic, it's a devoutly Christian region.

But the Bavarian regional flag also hints at something else . . .

Ye ole beer hall . . . hoffbrau haus . . . especially appealing on a hot July day . . . when one can sit outside and enjoy . . . 

a beer . . . the house brew . . . 

and a soft pretzel . . . there were three in the basket . . . Mr. H. didn't want one so, ahem, I ate all three, burp! LOOOVE those things . . .

swirled in a bit of mustard . . . YUM!

Mr. H. ordered wurst and German potato salad . . . the latter is to him as  pretzels are to me . . .

I ordered radi, a white radish with a spicy "bite" common to the area that comes thinly sliced . . .  sometimes called the "Munchen radi," it goes great with beer. (I had a small beer; Mr. H. drank water because he would be driving later.)

Afterwards, we walked along the lake for about an hour . . . 

eventually stopping for -- you guessed it, apple strudel . . . and lingered over a cup of coffee . . . people were out . . . bicyclists filled bike lanes . . . ducks begged for food at the lake's shore . . . birds chirped . . . a beautiful day we didn't want to end . . . but we also had a mission: those shoes. So, we returned to the car . . . 

and headed into town . . .

to this shop . . . where nothing on sale was in my size, but a pair of Nike's worked . . . same price as in the States, even with the tax . . . so very happy to have new "wheels" . . .

we returned to the country road that linked Tegernsee . . .

and our Austrian hotel . . .

and our room . . .

with its gorgeous view during the day . . .

and at night. From Arkansas to Austria, the sound of music caresses one's soul.